Aims: Small children are expected to be abstinent from alcohol, and children's hair is frequently used as the blank matrix for calibration of the alcohol consumption marker ethyl glucuronide (EtG). The basal EtG concentrations of total abstainers were described to be 0.3-2.1 pg/mg (Pirro et al. 2013). It is examined whether this assumption is valid for children from families with addiction background.
Methods: In a social support system for families with drug and/or alcohol addicted parents, 161 hair samples from 126 children (age 1-14 years, hair segment 0-3 cm) were analyzed for EtG by a validated LC-MS/MS method (LOD 0.56 pg/mg, LLOQ 2.3 pg/mg). For comparison, ethyl palmitate (EtPa) was measured and hair samples from parents were included. EtG ≥ 3 pg/mg was considered as an alarming result for children.
Results and discussion: EtG concentrations between 3.0 and 42.6 pg/mg (mean 9.55 pg/mg, median 6.40 pg/mg) were measured for 25 samples (15.5%, age 22 × 1-5 years, 3 × 9-11 years). Elevated EtPa (0.15-0.46 ng/mg) was found in 6 samples and cocaethylene (0.02-0.07 ng/mg) was detected in 5 samples with high cocaine findings. Hair results of one or both parents indicated drug abuse in 12 from 14 cases (85.7%) if both parents were tested.
Conclusion: Although accidental or voluntary intake of alcoholic beverages cannot be excluded, the external contamination of children's hair by EtG-containing wine and sweat or urine of the alcohol abusing parents is assumed to be the most probable explanation for the positive EtG results in hair of 1-5-year-old children.
Keywords: Alcohol markers in hair; Children of alcoholics; Contamination of hair; Ethyl glucuronide.